1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print system for performing print control using metadata expressed in a hierarchical structure stored in a page description language (PDL).
2. Description of the Related Art
Variable printing for customizing a print document PDL for each customer and performing printing has attracted attention. As a specification for the variable printing, standardization of Portable Document Format/Variable data and Transactional (PDF/VT) has been started.
In the PDF/VT, which is PDL data, a hierarchical structure called Document Part (DPart) is added and a page of PDF is structured. Further, in the PDF/VT, metadata called Document Part Metadata (DPM) can be added to each DPart. The metadata is expressed in a hierarchical structure expressed in a tree structure.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-037731 discusses an image processing apparatus and a method for determining a front cover to be used for printing using metadata when the printing is performed using data containing binary data and metadata. However, in the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-037731, it is not possible to selectively print a record specified by a user using metadata contained in a PDL.
Meanwhile, conventionally, a technique for generating a job ticket (compliant with Job Definition Format (JDF)) and selecting a record in order to select the record using metadata contained in a PDL is known.
However, in the technique, processing operations for generating the job ticket in which the metadata is written and for interpreting the job ticket are generated. Accordingly, it is not possible to easily select the record using the metadata contained in the PDL.